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"There goes my heart beating
'Cause you are the reason
I'm losing my sleep
Please come back now"
-You Are The Reason, Calum Scott
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*chapter fifteen*
April didn't get any sleep for the rest of the night, just stared at the wall in front of her with a blank expression waiting to feel something.
Once the decision was reached in Mount Olympus there was a high chance her demigod instincts would react and she'd immediately know if she was in any danger. After all, if she had panic attacks when nothing was going on, she had to have panic attacks when something was going on too, right?
Hopefully.
She groaned, wishing she could pluck the sun out of the sky and make it stay forever nighttime, where a decision would never be reached.
I'm the daughter of Apollo, she thought, I should not be wishing for the sun's disappearance.
Knowing she wasn't ever going to fall asleep, she swung her body out of bed, changing into a pair of sweatpants and not bothering to even run a brush through her hair.
She did tie it up though, on the consideration that the gods would be more likely to keep around a pretty demigod than an ugly one.
The floorboards creaked as she walked out of her room, wincing when the door refused to close silently.
It was a Saturday morning, so nobody was awake this early. Unless someone had a job or insomnia (like herself), they would not sacrifice sleeping in. If they did, they were just plain stupid.
Besides, she wanted to be alone, and not because she was uncomfortable, but because she still didn't know what the fate of her friends and family would be. If she was about to get swiped away, she'd strongly prefer she got swiped away alone.
She felt exposed, like someone was watching her, which she supposed was true. Her eyes darted around her, wide open for every little movement, even regular ones.
As soon as she stepped into the outside air, she heard a flap of wings, looking behind her to see a couple harpies tailing her.
"You guys will never get less creepy," she said, and then shuddered while walking away, actively ignoring the fact that they were following her.
Grey clouds painted the sky and rain was pouring down. A thin layer of fog spread through the buildings, as if it was trying to trick her into going the wrong way.
"Jokes on you, I don't know where I'm going anyway," she muttered, before smacking her forehead. "I'm talking to fog. Great."
In any news, the weather definitely showed that some god was slightly upset. Maybe not angry, probably not pleased, but just slightly ticked off. That really didn't tell her anything.
April opened up her phone for no reason, scrolling through old messages and random things on the internet, trying to keep her hands busy and warm.
"Where are you going?" a voice asked in April's ear.
"My death probably- huh?!"
She whirled around, smacking her head into someone else's, before falling into a puddle on the ground. Now her sweatpants were soaked and maybe that made her an unworthy demigod, despite all the effort that went into tying her hair up earlier.
"Oh secret demigod, I'm sorry!" a familiar voice said, as a hand reached down towards her.
"Abner?" April asked, as he pulled her back onto her feet from the strap on her backpack. "Is that you?"
"Yup!" he said.
He was wearing a green cap with the front hanging over and covering his face. He tilted it up with his thumb, sending April a wink, though she just frowned in response. His ears flopped down as the hat did, an amused laugh escaping him.
"I'm undercover on a secret mission," he said, "Don't tell anybody."
"Declaring that things are secrets kind of defeats the purpose," April said, "Anyway, what mission?"
"I have to escort you somewhere," he said, "I know your situation, so I understand why they needed someone you trust to take you to them. I can't tell you the details, but you'll be safe."
"Escort me where?" April asked, taking a step back. "Who is they? And I...don't really trust you."
"That hurts, but no worries," Abner said, "I thought that might be the case, so I brought someone else you might trust a bit more. Come on out, little grace!"
Oh no...oh please no.
Chenle stepped out from the fog that had grown ridiculously thicker at some point, popping a bubble of gum between his lips for no good reason. His bucket hat was on as usual, but drenched with rain water and he had a skateboard tucked underneath his arm.
"Oh, it's you," he said, "I probably should have put that together myself."
"What is going on?" April asked, "Why is he here?"
"You two are not friends?" Abner asked.
"No," the both replied firmly, at the same time.
"My bad then," Abner said, "Anyway, let's go."
"Go where?" April asked, at her wits end. "I have things to do. Chenle, you have things to do.
"I actually don't," Chenle said, then paused before jumping back in. "No, wait, I do. I just don't feel like doing them, so I'm here helping two dumbasses instead."
"Don't call me a dumbass!" Abner said.
"And who's the second one?" April asked.
"This is what I mean," Chenle said, sighing like it was the world's greatest burden. "He told me that we have to pick up some secret demigod and bring her to the gods and a Titan to receive her judgement. I had nothing better to do so I tagged along."
"Little grace, that was a secret," Abner whined.
Chenle shrugged, "What are they going to do? They obviously need April, and in the same way, they need her escorts."
"Okay, wait," April said, feeling her breaths pick up pace. "I'm not going anywhere. Not near any of those gods, not with you."
"Why did it become a personal jab?" Chenle asked, "I didn't think I'd be going anywhere with you either."
"It really wasn't that hard to figure out."
"I'm your escort, treat me with some respect."
"Escort my ass," April said, then turned her attention back to Abner. "And you, I'm not exactly comfortable with the idea of you taking me to any gods either."
Abner let out a highly exaggerated sigh before perking back up again, a goofy grin spreading over his face.
"Right!" he said, "The Titan gave me this. Told me to give it to you if you were still unsteady."
He reached into his pocket, fiddling around a little bit before pulling something that fit inside his fist out and holding it towards April. She held her own hand out in response, Abner dropping a small object into it.
April raised a brow, but pulled her hand back and looked at it anyway. It was a metal pin, like one you could buy at tourist shops and connect to your suitcase as a souvenir. It took April a moment to realize, but it was made to look like a river, complete with small ripples running through it.
"What is this?" April asked, looking back up at Abner.
"A pin of a river," he replied simply.
"I know that," April groaned, racking her brain for what it could possibly mean.
When Abner said "Titan," her brain immediately went to Prometheus, but there was no way to be sure that it was actually him. She wasn't entirely sure what had happened to the Titans after they fought with the gods, but there had to be some that were still out there besides Prometheus.
It also hadn't looked like the meeting was going to turn in her favor after she witnessed the beginning through her dream, so the chances they were just luring her into her death with the word "Titan" was pretty high.
"A junior demigod like you might not know this," Abner said, tapping April's shoulder to catch her attention. "But in the Greek world, a river usually symbolizes one specific river."
"Which one would that be?" April asked, confused.
"The river Styx," Aber replied, "one of the five rivers of the underworld. Swearing an oath on this river would make it impossible to break, unless you want to destroy yourself. So sometimes...it can be used to symbolize promises."
"Promises..." April said, eyes widening.
"April, I promise that the twelve great Olympians will never kill you or seriously physically harm you in any way. I will put in my full effort, and if it still fails, I will accept whatever burdens the universe decides to place on me."
Prometheus had made her a promise, one that he risked his very sanity over. The pin might be proof that Prometheus was waiting on the other side, or it could be a trap, but whatever it was, if April wanted to live, she'd have to put her faith in something.
If she had the luxury to choose, she'd much rather place her faith in the Titan that had spoken those words, rather than the gods she hadn't ever believed in or the father that had left. Or even just in pure luck.
"Okay," she said, tucking the pin into her pocket. "Let's go."
Chenle had some ch-ch-ch-ch-chewing gum